Word Origin & History

"expressing negation," 1570s, from Middle French negatoire or directly from Medieval Latin negatorius "negative," from Latin negatus, past participle of negare "deny, say no, to refuse" (see deny). In the sense "no" it is U.S. Air Force slang from the early 1950s.

Example Sentences for negatory

Dane made a negatory gesture, but Ormond anticipated his answer.

A quiet smile with a negatory shake of the head was the only answer.

Commissioners arch their eyebrows, with negatory sniff: who is this young gentleman with more wit than we all?

For example, he should never be content with mere aggressive and negatory criticism of the page before him.